Button



June 2, 1964 H. E. ALTHENS 3,135,032

BUTTON Filed Dec. 13, 1961 FIG 2 FIG 5 FIG 9 FIG IO INVENTOR. HERBERT E.ALTHENS AT TOR EIY United States Patent 3,135,032 BUTTON Herbert E.Althens, Auburndale, Mass., assignor to The Reece Corporation, Waltham,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Dec. 13, 1961, Ser. No.158,980 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-101) This invention relates to buttons and moreparticularly to a shank type button wherein the head of the button ismaintained in an elevated position with respect to the garment to whichthe button is attached.

Buttons in use at the present time, fall into two categories, flatbuttons and shank buttons. The type which is used with a particulargarment depends upon the desires of the garment manufacturer. However,when the garment has substantial thickness it is desirable to use eitherthe shank type button or to provide a neck of thread under a fiat buttonso that the head of the button will be elevated with respect to thegarment whereby the edges of the buttonhole formed in another portion ofthe garment will lie under the button without being unduly compressedwhen the garment is buttoned.

With each of the above types of button, the threads which fasten thebutton to the garment come into engagement with the threads which bindthe edges of the buttonhole. Inasmuch as each group of threads presentsa rough surface to the other, they act as a rasp to each other causingundue wear and eventual breaking of threads. This results in either thefraying of the edges of the buttonhole or breaking of the threadsholding the button to the garment. The latter results in the buttondropping off and consequently the danger of losing the button. Shouldthe button be matched to others on the garment, loss of the buttonnecessitates either replacing all buttons or searching for a matchingbutton.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improvedbutton wherein the threads securing the button to a garment will bepositioned so as not to engage the binding threads of a buttonhole whenthe garment is buttoned.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved buttonwherein a smooth surface is presented to the edges of a buttonhole atall times when the button is disposed therein.

A further object is to provide an improved button which eliminates thenecessity of providing a neck of thread and a winding therefor when thebutton is to be used with a garment having substantial thickness.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improvedbutton which will remain in the buttonhole should its fastening threadsbe broken while the garment is buttoned.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a section of a garment showing the buttonof the present invention mounted on one portion of the garment andreceived in a buttonhole formed in another portion of the garment;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the buttonremoved from the buttonhole;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken through the button andgarment of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross sectional view through the buttonholeportion of a garment and showing the button of the present inventionreceived therein;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the button forming the subject of thisinvention;

3,135,032 Patented June 2, 1964 ice FIGURE 6 is a side elevational viewof the button of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a bottom plan view of the button of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the modified button formed inaccordance with this invention;

FIGURE 9 is an end elevational view of the button of FIGURE 8; and,

FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of the button of FIG- URE 8.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, there isshown in FIGURE 1 a portion 10 of the garment which is provided with aconventional stitched edge buttonhole 12. Another portion 14 of thegarment has secured thereon a button 16 which may be inserted in thebuttonhole 12. The button 16 is formed of a base 18, and a neck 26extending upwardly from the central portion of the base 18 and a head 22mounted on the upper end of the neck 20. The base 18 and the head 22extend parallel to each other and in most cases the head 22 will be of alarger diameter than the base 18. The neck 20 can be of any desiredlength, which would be determined by the thickness of the garment withwhich the button 16 is to be used.

In order to secure the button 16 to the portion 14 of the garment thebase 18 is provided with a plurality of holes 24 extending verticallytherethrough. The holes 24 are positioned substantially at the cornersof a square surrounding the neck 20, as seen more clearly in FIG- URE 7.Fastening stitches 26 are adapted to extend through the holes 24, asseen in FIGURE 3, thus securing the button 16 to the garment portion 14.

The stitches 26 are arranged in two groups with each group passingthrough a pair of holes 24. The upper surface of the base 18 is providedwith a pair of parallel grooves 28 each of which extends between two ofthe holes 24-. The grooves 28 are provided for the reception of theportion of the stitches 26 which pass over the upper surface of the base18, whereby the stitches 26 will be recessed below the upper surface ofthe base 18 and not come in contact with the binding threads of thebuttonhole 12, when the garment is buttoned as shown in FIGURE 3. Thehead 22 of the button 16 is provided with a pair of parallel slots 34which extend vertically therethrough and are in alignment with thegrooves 28. The slots 36 are of a length so as to expose the holes 24,which are connected by the grooves 23. Thus the button 16 may beattached to a garment portion 14 by means of the conventional buttonsewers now in use, as the provision of the slots 30 will allow thestitches 26 to be drawn tightly into the grooves 28 when the needle ofthe machine passes downwardly through the button 16.

Inasmuch as a button is generally pulled from the garment when thegarment is buttoned, the provision of the head 22 and base 18 on thebutton 16 will cause the button to be retained in the buttonhole 12, asshown in FIGURE 4, thereby minimizing the chances of losing the button.Further, since the length of the neck 20 will be governed by thethickness of the garment, there will be no compressing of the edges ofthe buttonhole 12 which would detract from the general appearance of thegarment.

FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 illustrate a button 32 which is a modification ofthe button 16 shown in FIGURES 1 to 7. This button 32 is formed of animperforate head 34 having a neck 36 extending downwardly from thecentral portion thereof. At the end of the neck 36 there is provided abar 38 which is circular in cross section as seen in FIGURE 9. The neck36 is joined to the midpoint of the bar 38, and grooves 40 are formed ineach end of the bar 38 between the neck 36 and the end of the bar 38.

The grooves 40 are of such a depth as to receive the stitches 26therein. Thus the stitches 26 will be disposed below the plane of theouter surface of the bar 38 and will not engage the binding threads ofthe buttonhole 12. This button may also be secured to the garment bymeans of the conventional button sewing machine now in use. It is merelynecessary to place the button 32 so that the neck 36 thereof is in aperpendicular position with respect to the plane of movement of theneedle of the machine, and then stitches can be placed over the ends ofthe bar 38 after which the button 32 can be pivoted to its normalposition.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A button comprising a head portion, a neck portion and a base portion,said neck portion being secured to said head and base portions centrallythereof and maintaining said head and base portions in fixed spacedrelation to each other, said head portion extending outwardly from saidneck portion a distance at least equal to the length of outwardextension of said base portion, said base portion being provided withmeans therein for receiving securing means to fasten said button to agarment, said means in said base portion permitting said securing meansto be dis osed within the area bounded by the planes of the top and sidesurfaces of said base portion, said base portion comprising a firstcircular disk having a plurality of holes extending verticallytherethrough, said holes being equally spaced around said neck, saidbase portion being provided with a plurality of grooves in the uppersurface thereof, said grooves connecting pairs of said holes, said headportion comprising a second circular disk, there being slots in saidsecond disk extending vertically therethrough, said slots being each inline with one of said grooves and being of a length equal to the spacingof the holes in said base portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 78,535Mudler June 2, 1868 237,342 Van Wagenen Feb. 1, 1881 1,610,309 NiedererDec. 14, 1926 1,662,483 Wood Mar. 13, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 679,095Germany July 28, 1939 857,870 Germany Dec. 1, 1952 258,103 Great BritainSept. 16, 1926 7,798 Great Britain of 1938 262,869 Switzerland Oct. 17,1949

